Combined punch and cutter



March 4, 1952 I. RABINOWITZ ET AL 2,588,043

COMBINED PUNCH AND CUTTER Filed Dec. 7, 1948 INVENTOR.

Irv/bag ZdBiII-OkgZ ifaiainomiiz Patented Mar. 4, 1952 UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE COIN'ED PUNCH AND CUTTER .Irving Rabinowitz and Mildred S. Rabinowitz, Brooklyn, .N. Y.

1 Claim.

This invention has reference to a combined cutter and punch, and particularly to an article of this character adapted for use in producing reinforcements for binder holes in sheets or pages used in loose-leaf books, or for other purposes.

At present, the reinforcements used for the above-mentioned purpose usually consist of small circular annular rings coated with an adhesive on one face by means of which the rings are adhesively attached to one or more faces of the sheet around the hole therein. These reinforcements are usually of small size, and are often too small to be of satisfactory use, particularly after the hole which they are intended to reinforce has become considerably enlarged by usage. Such reinforcements are not easy to handle, readily become lost and soiled and have other disadvantages.

The present invention therefore contemplates the provision of a, combined punch and cutter by means of which reinforcements may be punched out and also severed from a strip or roll of gummed paper, cloth, cellulosic sheet material or other material, enabling such reinforcements to be of a required or selected size; permitting the reinforcements to be made only when needed so that unnecessary handling of the reinforcements and particularly touching of the gummed surfaces thereof is not required. The invention has other features and advantages to be hereinafter set forth and more particularly pointed out in the claims appended hereto.

Referring to the accompanying drawing, wherein an illustrative embodiment of the invention is disclosed, Fig. 1 is a side elevation, with parts in section, of the improved combined cutting and punching tool, showing the same in its position of operation; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the tool in its open position and with the tape roll removed; Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the tool; Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrows; Fig. 5 is a view looking at the left end of Fig. 2, and Fig. 6 shows one of the reinforcements as produced by the use of the tool.

The tool is particularly adapted for cutting or forming reinforcements from strip material, such as gummed paper or fabric tape, cellulosic material tape and other similar strip material such as is usually made up in roll form, a roll of such material being held by the tool, as indicated at IS in Fig. 1.

The body I of the tool is preferably made from a single piece of flat strip metal of springy nature and formed into a substantially U-shape as clearly seen in Figs. 1 and 2. Said body I is thus provided at one end with a loop portion 2 from which extend the resilient legs 3 and 4 constituting the jaws of the tool. The nature of the material from which the body of the tool is formed is such that the legs or jaws 3 and 4 normally tend to spring apart or separate, such separating movement being limited or restricted by means of a tongue 9 formed from the leg 3, and which has a laterally-bent end H3 that passes through a slot II in the leg 4 and takes under the leg 4 to thus limit the extent of separation of the two legs.

The leg or jaw 3 constitutes the male die and cutter and is provided with angular cutting edges '8 and i which may be sharpened to facilitate the cutting operation, the angularity of said edges also aiding in guiding the blade into a co-operating slot, shown at l2. The leg or jaw 3 also carries a stud 8 forming the male die member, said stud extending from the inner face of the leg or jaw 3 and adapted, when the legs 3 and 4 are brought toward one another by pressure between the fingers, to enter a hole or aperture I4 in the leg 4, which constitutes the female punch and cutter. .It is apparent that when the legs or jaws '3 and 4 are brought together as above described, the stud 8, entering the hole I4, will perforate or produce a round hole, such as shown at I8 in Fig. 6, in the tape located between the legs.

When the legs or jaws 3 and 4 are brought together as described, the cutting blade 5 will enter the slot l 2 provided in the leg 4 and extending for the greater portion of the distance across said leg. Said slot l2 extends inwardly from one of the longitudinal edges of the leg 4 and is provided witha relatively widened mouth l3 at said edge.

From the foregoing, the operation of the tool will be readily understood. The material to be cut and punched is contained on the roll I 5 which may be conveniently surrounded by or housed in the loop portion 2 of the tool. The material to be cut into reinforcements is drawn from the roll I5 as indicated by the extended part It, which is pulled forwardly between the legs or jaws 3 and 4 to thus lie between the same and in position to be severed and perforated. When pressure is imposed on the legs or jaws 3 and 4 by the fingers, the legs will be brought together, as seen in Fig. 1, so that the tape or strip portion I6 will be transversely severed by the blade 5 cooperating with the slot l2. At the same time, the stud 8 in entering the hole [4, will provide a perforation in the strip as indicated at I8. If the strip is then drawn forwardly to the required extent and.

the legs or jaws again pressed together, the portion of the strip in which the hole l8 has been formed will then be cut off, resulting in the production of a rectangular piece or apertured reinforcement such as shown at IT. While the reinforcement I1 is shown as being square in shape, it may be made longer or shorter as desired by merely extending the piece to be cut off.

While the improved tool is primarily intended to simultaneously cut off a section from the strip while perforating the strip, it may also be used as a cutter only, since the blade is made long enough to transversely cut the strip before the stud 8 enters the hole M to perform the perforatingoperation. Hence, if it is desired to use the tool merely for the purpose of cutting unperforated sections from the strip this may be done by merely pressing the jaws together until the strip is cut through and then ceasing the pressure before the stud 8 enters the hole l4. To simultaneously perforate the strip as well as cut it merely requires the application of sufficient pressure on the legs or jaws 3 and 4 to force the stud 8 through the strip and into the hole M, at which time the blade 5 co-operating with slot l2, will have cut the strip. The enlarged opening or mouth I3 at the open end of the slot [2 enables the end or edge of the cut-off section to be lifted and the cut-ofi section removed. It also facilitates the lifting of the forward end of the remaining part 16 to enable said part to be pulled forward to the next cutting position.

In the event that it is desired to use the tool solely as a perforator or punch, a strip to be punched can be fed transversely across the jaws between the stud 8 and hole l4 and the strip can then be punched at desired points without transversely cutting the same.

If the tape to be cut and punched by the tool is that which is provided with a constantly sticky surface, such as cellulosic tape and draftsmans tape, the roll is so placed in the loop portion 2 that the adhesive surface of the tape will be that indicated at 20 in Fig. 1, and which will lie in contact with the upper flat face of the leg 4, and particularly adjacent to the cutting and punching apertures l2 and 14. This will enable this portion of the tape to be stretched and held smoothly over the said apertures enabling the cutter 5 and stud 8 to most effectively function to cut and perforate the strip.

Having described one embodiment of the invention, it is obvious that the same is not to be restricted thereto, but is broad enough to cover all structures coming within the scope of the annexed claim.

What we claim is:

A tool of the character described comprising, a substantially U-shaped body of fiat spring stock provided with a springy loop portion at one end and two spaced legs extending therefrom, said legs normally tending to spring apart, means for limiting the extent of separation of the legs, one of the legs being provided with a slot extending partly across it, said leg also having a hole, the second leg having a laterally bent end forming a cutting blade adapted to enter the slot, the second leg also having a stud inwardly from the blade and adapted to enter the hole whereby a strip of flat, tape-like material located between the legs will be simultaneously transversely severed and perforated, the loop portion adapted to confine a roll of flat, tape-like material within it and from which the tape may be drawn and moved in a direction co-extensive with the length of the legs of the tool.

IRVING RABINOWITZ. MILDRED S. RABINOWITZ.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 273,018 Brigg Feb. 27, 1883 1,381,024 Shaul June 7, 1921 2,145,210 Chason Jan. 24, 1939 2,441,821 Kendall May 18, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 2,006 England Feb. 8, 1887 341,202 France Aug. 2, 1904 380,070 Germany Jan. 10, 1922 

